Hey Doc, some guys in Sno-King PSA did a massive polish job on their aluminum (Raider?) and then did a clear coat -- I believe it was Sharkhide?

Their boat is absolutely STUNNINGLY gorgeous in shiny aluminum. They said it was a ton of prep work, but on a virgin hull like yours?

Not sure if you plan to paint it up, but since you mentioned the blingy diamond plate trim, I thought I'd suggest it. LMK if you want to reach out to the guys who run that boat.

B

Might consider some extra bling for the bow guard, but it's probably gotta stop there. High maintenance polishing and re-polishing ain't really my gig.

Most of the DP surfaces living within the outside corner gunnel extrusion is gonna be painted in Zolatone... everything but the floor. Horizontal Zolatone surfaces that will invariably get stepped on (coaming gunnel, step deck) will have exposed diamonds.... vertical surfaces straight Zolatone including the diamonds.

The outside DP bowguard is a prime candidate for some shiny bling from the get-go, and something I could concede to polishing on a regular basis. What the hell... just one more thing to add to f4b's honey-do list.

Nice lines. Very nice.

Re: polishing/maintenance. I think that's the reason they like the Sharkhide stuff... I'm not selling the stuff, but a year after they put it on their boat, it was mirror-like beautiful at the Halibut opener this year. I don't believe they do anything but wash it.

I'll ask at least.

Very nice, Doc... and well-deserved.

Looking forward to the inevitable pixels and prose of your adventures....

HUGE!

Looks kinda like a fuselage for a jet plane. Wonder if they could mount wings on it.

I see they still are making the tabs for the transducer that way. Poor design, mine broke off when I bumped something. I had a different one welded to the transom on both the top and bottom edges of the tab.

Best

I agree.....River Wild puts them on either side, but they are welded to, well hell, just as easy to go take a picture......

Guess I'm gonna have to go on a diet.

Seriously, not a boat engineer, so I'm not sure why the tank is placed so far back. That's where it lived on my last boat as well.

Couple ways to compensate for it.

1) I'm buying the lightest 4-stroke made... 505# compared to 525# for my old 2 stroke E-Tec.

2) Less 42 pounds for the jack plate that won't be there any longer

3) Less the weight of 2 batteries in the stern, which will be further offset by the weight of most likely 3 batteries (about 60# apiece) stowed in the forward-most compartment.

4) Further offset by the weight of an est 65# bow-mounted Minn Kota RipTide electric trolling motor.

I think that adds up to about 407# (20 + 42 + 100 + 180 + 65) of effective weight transfer to the front of the boat.

As you said, I also have the extra 3 ft of aluminum sticking out the front, plus the added weight of a longer stepdeck and the DP bowguard.

And finally, there's the ultimate weapon in weight distribution.....

Six fully-adjustable sliding water-tight seat-boxes that can be positioned ANYWHERE along the length on the main deck. Unlike my old fixed seat-boxes that were anchored to the floor, I should be able to transfer my passenger load fore/aft with ease.

That ought to be a snap to have them weld a couple of side pieces back to the transom to increase the structural rigidity of the std brackets. Or just remove them and weld on a U-shaped bracket like you have pictured DW.

Thanks for the tip.

Sweet ride. She sure is pretty...

I got your weight distrabution rite here.

Better for the fuel tank being near the transom. Fill a zip lock with water and drop it from 6" then pick it back up and drop it from 4'. Lots less stress on tank being near the back of the boat. Ask F4B about riding up front on a bumpy day.

spinal fusion

Pink would look great for the DP up front.

Is that more whinin' about the whole uppy downy thing again?

HMMMM..... LMWS always liked it just fine..... seems to me she was always screaming "Faster faster!"



Jeebus, before you know it, you old cockers are all gonna be slidin' down to the back, gettin' all comfy with me and the fuel tank.

Here's the Koffler repair of my '81 AW sled. By the way the Sac river is running DIRTY!

I-Pilot.

Get the 80 or 101 with the longest shaft you can for that beast. I have the 55 and love it but wish I had the 80 . You can run it with your kicker and it will work great as an auto pilot and to fine tune your trolling speed with it. If your fighting a big fish in the back of the boat and want to get the kicker prop out of the water you will want all the power you can get up front to mve the boat as fast as possible. in heavy water you will want it as deep as possible too.

http://mk2.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/34...CFep7Qgod0AgAsA

This place has them on sale for one more day!!!

And finally, there's the ultimate weapon in weight distribution.....

Thought for sure this was going in the direction of a load of hatchery kings in the fishbox up front . . .

"You boat ho's don't like the bow bouncing up and down then fill it up with fish . . ." {;>)

"You boat ho's don't like the bow bouncing up and down then fill it up with fish . . . DAMMIT ! ! ! !"

Bet you won't hear quite as much bitchin when those guys are riding in that sleek machine.
Course you could add an onboard headset options for the operator with "whine cancelling" headsets!



Fishy